DuPont Launches DuPont™ Cerenol™ – its newest renewably sourced polymer family
Family of polyols contains 80-100 percent renewable content while enhancing performance
WILMINGTON, Del., June 4, 2007 – DuPont today announced its next polymer family made with renewable resources – DuPont™ Cerenol™, which is made from 100 percent renewable resources. This patented new product line joins DuPont™ Sorona® as the newest polymer family made with corn instead of petroleum. Cerenol™ enhances the performance of a diverse portfolio of end-use products that range from running shoes and ski boots to cosmetics, automotive components and spandex fiber applications.
DuPont™ Cerenol™ is a family of renewably sourced, high-performance polyols (polyetherdiols). Cerenol™ can replace petroleum-based ingredients or finished products without compromising functionality. It offers value-added properties and can increase process efficiencies for a broad range of products in diverse markets including personal care, functional fluids and high-performance elastomers. Unlike petroleum-based or other plant-based alternatives, DuPont™Cerenol™ is easily tailored to meet specific needs and performs better in many end uses while providing environmental benefits.
“Since customers want environmentally smart options that do not compromise performance, we are pleased to now offer both Sorona® and Cerenol™ — two high-performance polymers that are engineered to meet or exceed the performance of their petroleum-based counterparts,” said DuPont Bio-Based Materials Vice President & General Manager Peter C. Hemken.
DuPont™ Cerenol™ is named from Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture. The liquid polyol is made using Bio-PDO™ from the DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products joint venture in Loudon, Tenn. Cerenol™ is the result of polymerizing Bio-PDO™ with itself. Compared to existing alternatives such as polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG), DuPont™ Cerenol™ has a significantly lower environmental footprint as determined by an ISO 14000-compliant Life Cycle Analysis, because from cradle to gate it has a 40 percent savings in non-renewable energy and 42 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Cerenol™ is being produced at DuPont operations in the United States and Canada.
Cerenol™ has a diverse portfolio of uses and benefits. For example, in personal care applications such as lotions, certain Cerenol™ grades provide a soft after-feel and reduce the need for certain additives. In some functional fluids such as heat transfer fluids, Cerenol™ offers a biodegradable fluid with excellent thermal conductivity. Cerenol™ is an ideal soft segment for several thermoplastic elastomers and thus enhances the performance of these elastomers. As an example, in spandex fibers it can replace the petrochemical soft segment of the polymer to provide better stretch recovery and an increase in the spinning speed of the fiber.
Cerenol™ will be the building block for two other renewably sourced products from DuPont. First, for new automotive primers and clearcoats from DuPont Performance Coatings that will be available in the first quarter of 2008, Cerenol™ provides increased chip resistance and flexibility. Second, grades of DuPont™ Hytrel® thermoplastic elastomers made with Cerenol™ will be available in late 2007 and will offer performance comparable to conventional grades.
DuPont’s unique breadth of biology, chemistry and materials science, ranging from better seeds to value-added end-use products, has enabled the creation of DuPont™ Renewably Sourced Materials, where each product contains a minimum of 20 percent renewable content by weight. These high-performance products are sourced to a significant extent from renewable, sustainable agricultural feedstocks, rather than petroleum. Renewably Sourced Materials from DuPont help reduce the environmental footprint, promote rural development and increased markets for farmers around the world, and help reduce dependence on petrochemicals for everyday products.
DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.
The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™, The miracles of science™, Cerenol™, Sorona® and Hytrel® are registered trademarks or trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.